​'Why so serious?' ​DC and Warner Bros. remain in the dark

Dear DC and Warner Bros.,

Your recent decision to reshoot scenes of “The Suicide Squad” shows that you just don’t get it. Yes, audiences and critics complained that “Dawn of Justice” was too dark but not because it was a dark film. It is okay to have dark films when that darkness is character and story driven. Darkness for the sake of darkness does not make a film good, but neither does lightening the mood of a film just to make it lighter create a good film.

“The Suicide Squad” is made up of DC’s greatest villains. These are some of the most F’ed up characters in any comic universe. Their movie can and should be dark as long as it is character driven. Sure, the Joker and Harley Quinn are clownish, but that only makes them all the more frightening. Will Smith can do comedy, but he has also prove to be a capable dramatic actor. Even if the suicide squad is on the side of good, they will be doing some bad sh--, and because their characters are who they are, they should be allowed to do so.

“Dawn of Justice” and “The Man of Steel” are considered falsely dark because Superman has always been a symbol of light. His character has been one that is always able to choose to do the right thing because he is strong, fast and smart enough to accept or rectify the consequences of his decision. His Midwest upbringing has allowed him to maintain his innocence and honor. In short, his character, no matter how much it may be out of keeping in a jaded world, is one that perpetually seeks the proverbial light even as he gets his power from the Sun.

By trying to correct for the error of “Dawn of Justice,” you have essentially missed the real problem with your superhero films. The reason why comic book characters have survived downturns in the economy and the elimination of paper in favor of digital is because the stories are character driven. Your movies, on the other hand, have been driven by a grab for cash and possibly the need to do something different than what Marvel has done while still trying to do the same thing. In the end, you will need to learn that character driven stories that are supported by special effects and that remain true to the characters in those stories will always be better than stories that are driven by special effects and just use a name to bring people into the theater.

Fans of superheroes everywhere can only hope that your next film will remember that these iconic characters have survived so long because they remain true to who they are, and if a character is dark, then the film can be dark. If the character is light, then the movie should at least be lighter when he or she is on the screen.